The Georgia Straight has been an integral part of life in Vancouver B.C. for over 43 years. In addition to feature stories on everything from politics and social issues to local underground musicians and artists, every issue includes details on...

The way that we treat children in our society is reflected in "big" things like school systems and "little" things like names. Like children themselves, names really should be off-limits, and if we cannot wrap our small minds around that, then we have a big problem.

Mention the word "immigration" and you feel a tremor as the ideological split creates a chasm, widened by raw emotions. But there are those who end up at the bottom of that chasm through no fault of their own. They are children, United States citizens, who live with the very real possibility of being separated from their parents who are here illegally.

More by Rob McMahon

In sci-fi films and novels, nanotechnology allows scientists to create miniature robot surgeons that will cruise our blood vessels like microscopic submarines -- but the reality of the emerging technology, which many scientists and industry leaders say will radically alter society and the economy, is more complex.

The collapse of the democratic revolution in Libya will gravely damage the prospects of the “Arab spring” elsewhere. Rulers in other Arab countries where the army is also largely made up of foreign mercenaries, will conclude that they can safely kill enough of their own protesters to “restore order”.

“As soon as you get out there, it fucking punches you in the gut,” said Vancouver photographer Kris Krug. “Unless you are out there near the source, up in the air, it is hard to really imagine the scope [of the BP oil spill]."